I decided to get a single days walking in on the East coast, which would be my seventh during August. I am now approaching the nearest point to the East coast from my home in Shropshire, which unfortunately does not make it any easier to get to!
I set off early from Shropshire to drive to just north of Skegness. I parked in a Council car park next to the large Butlin’s Holiday camp, at only £2 for the whole day I did not object to paying that. The £7 charged in Skegness – I did object to! I then caught the #59 bus to Mablethorpe. At Mablethorpe I caught the Call Connect minibus to Saltfleet. This is a bus service available only by booking, which I had done the day before.
I got dropped off next to the Haven at Saltfleet and continued my walk south. The sun was out by this time and very hot. The walk today would be predominantly along promenades, with excursions along sand dune footpaths and the beach itself. I set off through the Threddlethorpe Nature Reserve, close to the boundary with a MOD bombing range. The path had numerous shade coverings of trees, which was most welcome from the hot sun. The footpath was well-marked and deviated very little. I did not see the sea for the first 3 miles, as I was sandwiched between sand dunes and agricultural land.
At Sand Hills Farm the footpath turned inland and so I continued out onto the beach. High tide had been 2 hours before, so I was able to find some wet but firm sand to walk along. After two miles I neared the seaside town of Mablethorpe. The beach and sea front was very busy. The promenade contained all the usual features of a seaside holiday destination. It had a nice feel and I quite liked the place. I bought some additional water and a large ice-cream, which was lovely!
For the next 5 miles I continued along what was known as the Mablethorpe to Sutton-on-Sea Cycleway. This made for excellent progress as I continued past huge caravan and Leisure Parks. I passed through Trusthorpe, Sutton-on-Sea and finally to Sandilands where the cycleway finished. It was actually very difficult to see where one place finished and the other started as the caravans parks just seemed to morph into one another.
At Sandilands it was back onto the beach. I searched the beach for a good walking line, the sand close to the shore was hard going so I moved further out. A characteristic of this part of the beach was the slope, which was a steep bank with a large drop from the foreshore. I continued for some 5 miles along the bank, which although not great underfoot was much quicker than walking close to the shore. I continued on, passing Anderby Creek and then onto Chapel Point at Chapel St.Leonard’s.
For the remaining part of the walk I would stay on the promenade path all the way to Ingoldmells. The promenade footpath hid any views of Chapel St Leonards and I only got fleeting views of the town, which again was predominantly large caravan parks. At the outskirts of the Ingoldmells, the path became quite busy with a steady stream of holiday makers making their way to and from the sea front at Ingoldmells. I could now make out the large structures for thrill rides at the nearby Fantasy Island complex. I also picked up, across the sea, a land mass in the distance. This was Norfolk, the next county I would be walking through. By the time I had reached the large Butlin’s holiday camp the area was very busy and it was nice to see people enjoying themselves on this lovely sunny day.
Distance today = 22 miles
Total distance = 4,247 miles
Walking the Coast of Great Britain 
Mablethorpe was OK but I found most of the places south of there, all the way to Skegness to be pretty horrible. Miles and Miles of caravans, mixed in with takeaways and arcades. It was a nosiy and ugly place. I went to parts of it in summer when the roads were all badly congested, the promenade so busy it was difficult to make progress and then you have to queue to get on the trains. I certainly would not want to holiday there.
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Not my cup of tea as well Jon. Hope to get as far as Wainfleet next and a potential visit to Bateman’s Brewery. But first I must make a start on Applecross.
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